First Encounter with an Arrancar - Taka vs Hermosa
Taka walked through the Town of Karakura and sighed as there was nothing to do since Sengetsu died and he had gained his hollow powers in order to reclaim what he lost. He decided to use Kaihou to survey the skyline when a garganta opened above his head. "...and here we are!" Hermosa Savanna, Fracción of the Espada Afilado, presumed reincarnation of Hisana, stepped through the Garganta. She held the appearance of a young woman, and despite her position, she held almost an informal attire to herself. A skirt that reached slightly above the knee, half-sleeves that turn to fingerless gloves that reach from her forearms to her wrists, and bare feet that walked across the air so purely. She also sported a white, sleeveless shirt that exposed the mid-driff, her collar being closed. She had long, black hair, as well as yellow eyes. In anything, she bore a strong resemblance to the Shinigami Hisana Kuchiki and Rukia Kuchiki. She didn't bother to turn her head over her shoulder as she spoke. The other figure that was with her, and obviously the one that she was speaking to, followed suit. She carried a much more different appearance about her. Long, straight hair that flowed down to her shoulders, her bangs partially covering both of her golden eyes. Her skin a pale Caucasian color. A shirt that was only enough to cover the upper torso, exposing her shoulders and mid-driff. Her hakama, white and outlined in black, her two Zanpakutō is secured to her waists, in two hidden pockets. Arm bands covered her upper arm, as well as uniquely shaped, bone-like bracelets that covered her forearms. She looked around for a moment, before closing her eyes and placing a palm to one side of her face. "You goofed up again, Hermosa." "Huh?" That brought about a surprised look onto Hermosa's face, and she turned around into the direction of the other woman. "What do you mea--" "This isn't Soul Society." The woman explained, clearly exasperated. "This is the World of the Living. You got your places mixed up again. No wonder Senkaku said you needed someone to help you look for it, though I don't see why ''he couldn't do it..." This made Hermosa flinch, and she turned on her heel, giving a respectful and apologetic bow towards Cortez. "I...I'm sorry, Primera-sama!" However, this made the apparent superior raise her hands up. "Hey, hey! Take it easy... I'm not mad at you..." She insisted. "But... this will be a pain in the ass, since we just wasted some good time." A rather resolute look crossed her face, and she raised her finger. "Just lemme summon up another Gargantua, and we're outta here..." Taka looked up his white hair blowing in the wind as he entered his shinigami form and is now wearing a black Shihakushō with white kimono pants and his zanpakutou are held on his waist. "A Hollow? but why are they humanoid" He thought as his use of Kaihou caused his appearance known to the Arrancar. "I guess no need to hide now" He said as he used flash steps to appear infront of the duo. Disturbance! Immediately, the subordinate jerked out of her position, blind eyes staring at the figure wit astonishment. The aura that he was creating immediately tipped her off. Shinigami! This was bad... however, she didn't allow herself to panic, allowing herself to turn completely towards the figure, hair blowing to the side in the winds. The other woman simply directed her own eyes towards the man. "Or not..." She said thoughtfully. Taka spoke calmly. "What exactly are you? a hollow? or something else?" He said as he sensed the shinigami essence within them. "Im the substitute shinigami of this town and I want to know what brings you here" The older woman narrowed her eyes a bit. Raising her hands up, she clapped mockingly, though her expression was obviously indifferent. "Congratulations. You must be proud of your status..." She drawled. The subordinate looked over in her direction strangely, but the superior didn't seem to notice. "As for what we are... why should we tell you that?" She tilted her head to the side, stopping her clapping immediately. It wasn't the nicest of responses she could've used... but for one like him to step in her face and demand to know what they were was annoyingly rude. Anger Taka was extremely taken back by the rudeness of her response. "All I asked was what you were I didn't ask for the lip!" He said as he drew his twin zanpakutou and lunged, his inner hollow taking over which is signified by his eyes turning yellow. "Number 9! Hayabusa Tobikomi!" He said as he used the Peregrine Falcon Dive to slich the duo. Great. She was going to have to draw her swords. Why must she have to deal with a man so impatient? "Good grief..." She muttered under her breath, lowering her hands and waiting patiently.. However, there was something that caught it first. "Negación!" Immediately, the subordinate re-appeared in front of Cortez as a means of protection, raising her hand up. Upon the command, a rectangular, two-dimensional barrier came in front of the both of them, the attack no match for the invincible technique. Cortez raised both of her eyebrows, but couldn't say anything. Hermosa had beaten her to it: "Allow me to fight him, Cortez-sama." She spoke firmly. "It's the least I could do in order to pay for my mistake...." "All right...." Nodding a bit, Cortez moved away from Hermosa to go into a meditative pose a distance away. She'd thank Hermosa later... she was taking a bit headache off of the Primera's temples! The attack failed and pushed Taka back. "HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA" The Inner Hollow laughed as he looked at his zanpakutou and smirked. "Ashes rise now and become my shield, Flames burn now and become my blade, Kurogitsune!" he said as he released his shikai and stares at Hermosa. "I suppose words won't mean much to you now..." Hermosa spoke softly, raising her sword tip to point towards the Hollowfied Shinigami. "But it disappoints me to know you have so little control over your inner demons. Cero!" From the sword tip, she blasted a high-powered energy blast, purple in color, towards Taka, in an effort to annihilate him. "Tsukuyomi!" He called out as it passed though him. "Hachiman!" He said as he became tangible again and fired a black energy wave at her as soon as he was solid. "Interesting...." Immediately, Hermosa tilted her body so that her side was facing her opponent. The black energy wave missed her by a hair alone, and she could feel the intensity of the power coming from the blade. A slight scowl came across her face, the energy causing her hair to billow again. Then, she immediately flew towards Taka, sword gripped in both of her hands. Taka's hollowfied self draws in reishi rapidly and channels it into his blade, He points it at her and smiles. "Raijin!" He called out as a large lightning bolt is released in her direction. Immediately, Hermosa vanished out of the lightning's path, re-appearing a distance slightly above Taka. Then, she descended down upon again. From the sidelines, Cortez opened one eye to look on at the scene. She had faith that the Fraccion could handle herself, but the sounds of battle were making her a bit curious. How would she actually hold out against this man? Miffed that his attack missed again Taka switches tactics and creates several black dragons out of reishi and sends them towards Hermosa to bind her in place. "This is Yomi, now be ensnared" Surprise crossing her face, Hermosa found herself being forced away, trailing backwards in order to avoid the dragon's ensnaring grasp. He had quite an arsenal of techniques... and she yet knew how to defeat them. He was proving to be quite a difficult opponent... Kicking his Shunpo into high gear he appeared behind Hermosa and punches her. "Now perish, Hachiman!" He called out as he fired his attack as she flew away from him, the attack trailing after her, but not yet hitting. "Nani--" The blow smashed into her back, and she was sent flying away from him, a yelp escaping her lips. "Kch...!" She turned herself to face the blast, stopping herself within her tracks. Blade raised over her head, she swung the blade down, cutting the attack in half. She had gotten careless that time...! Taka smiled as he snapped his fingers and a solid white mask appears on his face as he now had full control of his hollow powers, suppressing his hollows instincts and allowing for Taka to charge his Cero at her. It was Hermosa's turn. Taking the time of the charged Cero as an opportunity, she vanished and re-appeared right behind Taka, mimicking his movements. Eyes narrowing once more, she swung an uppercut strike to deliver a deep gash through it and to severe the spine. Taka feels a cut in his back and then he instinctively uses Tsukuyomi to cause the remaining slash to phase through him, he then uses Sonido to move away from her. "very clever girl, Raijin!" he said firing his lightning blast again. 10 minutes. That was how much time that had passed since Taka had used it. Once again, Hermosa avoided certain death by vanishing and re-appearing, closing in on her opponent quickly. She unleashed a flurry of sword-stikes on his person, one-handed as to increase the speed of the attacks to catch him off-guard. Due to Taka having a twin zanpakutou he blocked the strikes effortlessly as he volleyed them in return. "This is boring, Hado #26 Yariawai!" He called out firing a concentrated burst of lightning from his fist. Immediately, Hermosa avoided, but this time relented. She lowered her sword to her side, closing her eyes in slight irritation. "You are starting to annoy me..." She murmured, before opening her eyes again and looking in his direction. "You haven't even bothered to show me your Bankai yet. If it's boring for you, I think it's time for you to stop playing around and take this a bit more seriously..." Taka took his mask off and smiled. "And you haven't released your sword either, but if its my bankai you wish to see far be it in my power to not hasten your death, Ban-KAI!" He said as he is enveloped within a pillar of light and when he emerged hes nolonger holding two swords but a single Jian with a white blade and no visible crossguard, The blade is approximately 70 centimeters long and 4 centimeters wide, with he the grip measuring about 20 centimeters long. His appearance changes as well since he gains giant reishi angel-like wings on his back, his hair becomes longer and wilder. His Shinigami attire becomes more form fitting and closed at the top, becoming more like a robe towards the bottom. "Ten-jiku Kurogitsune!" He called out as he looks at the humanoid hollow and smirks. For a moment, Hermosa said nothing, blind eyes staring at the form. She couldn't see it... but the strength of the reiatsu told her everything she needed to know. The wind blew slightly, kissing her face gently in the thickness that was the situation. She had her eyes narrowed at him, a frown clear on her face. "I guess there's no choice... is there?" She asked rhetorically, raising her own blade up. She closed those pale eyes, her own purple reiatsu surrounding her body like a pillar of fire. She took in a deep breath, uttering the release command as she exhaled. "Escape your prison, and drive mankind into darkness... Automata." That was when the world turned black. When that darkness faded, the area had taken on a completely different appearance. The sky was a crimson red, almost the same color and texture of human blood itself. The ground below was corrupted, buildings rotting and collapsing, and the ground cracked and fruitless. Hermosa's spiritual pressure seemed to be a murderous aura that surrounded them all. She herself had changed; a taller appearance, white hair, her kosode torn around her waist, and demonic markings on her body. True Fight Taka looked at her and his surroundings. "Hmm, interesting well no holding back now." He said as he used his bankai enhanced speed to appear behind her in a nanosecond. "Hachiman!" He called out as he fired his bankai enhanced attack, then vanished again. Appearing at another angle he then attacked again. "Raijin!" He called out doing as before attacking with a larger lightning attack then vanishing with speed only to appear before her face with a final attack. "Amaterasu!" He said as he fired a flamethrower made from the light of Amaterasu to complete his trap of sorts. All Hermosa needed to do was raise her head, swing out her free hand... and the heat had been ripped away from the Amaterasu and Raijin attacks, nullifying their effectiveness. Though she had to avoid one while doing so, she had kept herself from danger. "Convocatoria." Immediately, bat-like creatures spawned from the very ground, flying with her. There were a dozen of them, hovering over the man threateningly. With her will, Hermosa set all of them ablaze, yet they still flew. Their screeches filled Taka's ears, their hunger for the man's blood apparent. Watching as his three attacks were shut down so easily he moved to new tactics. "Time to use that technique" He said as he summoned the large Susanoo Gate and opened it, stunning the bats in its light and the calling forth 2 beings from within. The first was a young child who looked back at Taka. "Why call on us?" He asked not taking his gaze off of Hermosa, the second then spoke, but in Taka's voice as he explained. "We were summoned because our master needed our assistance young one, now let us fight" He said as he exerted a powerful aura that then seemed to buff him up. "I guess" The child said running at her. The old man extended his arm, sending his fist at Hermosa. "Take this!" Hermosa remained steadfast and still, looking on as the beings ran at her. She could sense them coming, but remained calm. Mentally, she willed the bats to defend her, some of them flying to greet the two head-on. The quickest way to destroy an opponent was to break the defenses and weapons. Therefore, these two needed to be brought down before Taka could ever be beaten. There was one thing she refused to give away - if the attacking bats were killed in anyway... there would be another surprise waiting for them. As the bats charged at the duo they did not waver, The old man barreled thru the barrage as the kid jumped into the air and pulled out what looked like Ten-jiku Kurojitsune and dove at Hermosa slashing the bats that tried to hinder him. The old man was caught in the barrage, and so was the boy. Perfect. Once Hermosa gave the order, those bats exploded into brilliant displays of flame, consuming the two of them in Hermosa's power. The wind and heat caused her clothes and hair to ripple back, yet she remained firm. The flames were as hot as the sun itself, bound to do considerable damage to the targets. It was even causing Hermosa to sweat, multiple beads running down her face. The smoke had cleared and the duo were unharmed, for the young one used his power to erect a barrier around them to deflect the attack. "This is boring" The child said as he fired a Hachiman attack at Hermosa, the elderly man watched and telepathically spoke to Taka. "This fight is getting nowhere master, what shall you do?" He asked "We win of course, i have a plan but i gotta call you two back now" Taka spoke as he dissolved the duo and called them back to the gate making it vanish. For the first time in a while, Hermosa spoke, her expression neutral. "I'm surprised." She commented softly, the wind billowing her hair slightly. "I would've never thought my flames could be quelled as easy as you did. You're very difficult to overwhelm...." She didn't yet make a move to attack, but instead waited to see if he would respond. Taka stared at her and considered his options. "Shes evaded almost all my attacks, so I need to ensnare her but its gonna have to be a large Yomi to catch her off guard" He thought as he charged his dark energy into his blade. "Yomi!" He called out as several dragons numbering in the hundreds flew at her. "Negacion." Immediately, Hermosa extended her hand outward. A field, enhanced by the power of her released form, was summoned in order to block off the dragons. However, if she kept it up for too long, she would be simply wasting energy. Immediately, as best as she could while fending off the dragons, she took to the skies. After her, tearing from the ground, were more bat-like creatures in order to assist her. "Perfecto" He thought as she went directly into his trap, by using amaterasu to heat up the air he created a perfect lightning cloud to boost the power of Raijin, so by Hermosa going higher up, the blast would be bigger. "You know you shouldn't go near a lightning cloud of this magnitude, you could get fried" He said smugly as he channel the energy into his blade and used an over charged Raijin attack. "Raijin Ultima" It was an impressive attack. Had it not been for where Taka was at the moment, it would've certainly killed Hermosa at the moment. However, it was because of her Resurrecion's special ability that allowed her to save her own life. Willingly, she parted from her blade, allowing it to drop to the ground and be enveloped by the dragons below. Raising her hand up, she allowed the blast to collide with her hand. Upon contact, all of that heat was ripped away from his control, now concentrated under her own rule. Taking that power-enduced hand, she aimed it straight for her target - her opponent. Without warning, she expelled it all at him. Taka was visibly tired and his own attack was redirected at him. "Shit, this is bad" He thought as he considered using Tsukuyomi again, but had 10 minutes passed? He didnt know anymore. "Use it, the Sumeramikoto, if you dont, you will die here Taka-kun" Ten-jiku Kurogitsune said to him. "No other choice." He thought as he drew in an abundance of spirit energy to his blade. "I got one shot to use it, two tops" He thought again before triggering his Initial Kami. "Time for me to use my ultimate technique, Sumeramikoto!" He cried as he released the powerful twister of energy from his blade, it tore through his previous attack and ravaged the air and sky, scarring it as it headed for his opponent, this was his ultimate power. This was the attack that caught Hermosa by surprise. Her eyes widened at the sudden surge due to the reiatsu, and all she could do was cross her arms in an X-shaped defensive position as it swept her into its intense winds. She was completely enveloped... the damage was yet to be seen. Taka was shown, he was losing his bankai slowly as it faded away starting with his outfit, it changing back to its normal form. He waited, trying to hold onto his bankai long enough to see what his attack had done, long enough to use another if need be, Long enough not to die. "Come on, just alil longer" It started to clear... ...but Hermosa was not in the air anymore. Instead, having suffered too much damage at the attack, she was on her hands and knees, her release form having been forcefully dissipated. On the majority of her skin, burn marks lined along her body. Her hair was shadowing her face, but she had her eyes closed and panting heavily. The sweat only made her wounds sting even more. All around them, her influence was shattered, the world returning to what it had once been. Slowly, Cortez herself began her descent to the ground, only sparing a glance towards her wounded subordinate. Aftermath Taka had completely lost his bankai and his shikai reverted instantly to its sealed form as he fell from the sky, the energy boost from Sumeramikoto faded rapidly. As he neared the ground he was caught by Tenmu in his shikai form and the latter scolded him. "Your the biggest show off I know bud" He said as he saved Taka from a fatal fall. "G...gomen nasai..." Hermosa's voice was weak and pained, but she fought it in order to allow herself to speak to her superior as she walked up to kneel beside her. "I--" Cortez, however, would have none of it. "Take it easy." She ordered calmly, gently moving the girl onto her back. The wounds looked even worse up close - but, she knew the Fraccion. She would very easily survive under such circumstances - Senkaku had informed her of that. "Just allow yourself to rest here a moment. Then, we'll take our leave, all right?" Despite her blind sight, it seemed like Hermosa's rather subdued stare was boring directly into her own eyes. Then, they looked away. "Y...yes, ma'am." She acknowledged, allowing her body to relax as she was placed. Taka looked at the two arrancar and determined they were no threat. "Lets go Tenmu-san" He said as his friend flew them away.